Chinese For Dummies (34 page)

chuángdiàn
床垫
(
床墊
) (chwahng-dyan) (
mattress
)

chuángzhào
床罩
(chwahng-jaow)
(
bedspread
)

tǎnzi
毯子
(tahn-dzuh) (
blanket
)

yīguì
衣柜
(
衣櫃
) (ee-gway)
(
chest of drawers
)

zhěntóu
枕头
(
枕頭
)
(juhn-toe) (
pillow
)

The good news, of course, is that after you've purchased all these items, you can actually collapse on your own new bed. The bad news is that now you have no excuse not to
pūchuáng
铺床
(
鋪床
) (poo-chwahng) (
make the bed
) every morning.

Here are three quick
fēng shuǐ
tips for the bedroom:

Place the bed as far away from the door as possible for more control over your life.

Don't put your bed against a side wall if you want more flexibility in life.

Put lots of space between the front of your bed and the rest of the room if you want your life to expand.

And if you have kids, you'll probably want to make sure there's a
shūzhuō
书桌
(
書桌
)
(shoo-jwaw) (
desk
) somewhere in their bedroom so that they can get some studying in after school. (You don't have to be a
fēng shuǐ
expert to know that.)

The bathroom

Okay, I'll cut to the chase. The bathroom is the one room in the house no one can do without. Here are the basics: You need a
cèsuǒ
厕所
(
廁所
) (tsuh-swaw) (
toilet
), a
yùgāng
浴缸
(yew-gahng) (
bathtub
) or
línyùjiān
淋浴間
(
淋浴間
) (leen-yew-jyan) (
shower
), and a
shuǐcéng
水槽
(shway-tsuhng) (
sink
).

One last thing you don't want to realize you've forgotten to stock up on before turning in for the night:
weìshēngzhǐ
卫生纸
(
衛生紙
)
(way-shung-jir) (
toilet paper
). While you're at it, make sure you have some
féizào
肥皂
(fay-dzaow) (
soap
) on hand in this room, too. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Here are some
fēng shuǐ
tips for the bathroom:

To prevent
qì
from escaping, keep the door closed when the room isn't in use. (Actually, keep the door closed when it's in use, too.)

Close the toilet lid after you're done.

Make sure there are no leaks.